Stand alones, duologies, trilogies, series - hmmm
My recently launched Heart Hunter was a stand alone, then a duology, then a stand alone again. My angel 'series' became a trilogy and now I'm not quite sure.
Mulling over the decision last night threw up some interesting questions. Of course there is the over-arching story arc, and the individual arc of each constituent story (where you are splitting), but there are also commercial considerations.
If independent publishing requires critical mass, than a 6 book series would be better than a trilogy - wouldn't it? Especially if you are going to make Book 1 a freebie. Especially if the freebie is 60,000 words rather than 120,000 of the original trilogy?
And then where to split. What if Book 1 has a natural split at 57,000 words and you really really want Book 1 to be 65,000 words, like you envisage Book 2 and 3. See how nice they look on the shelves? All the spines the same thickness. What if the spines are skinny, fat, fatter, skinny? Does it matter?
Then there is pricing. Should I ask someone to pay the same amount for a skinny read as for a fat one? Is it the quality of the story the reader is buying or the number of pages? What if that great story requires 300 pages to tell, and that other great story requires 500?
The obvious solution to my 57,000 word Book 1 would be to add 8000 words but I've just spent weeks cutting the original from 103,000 words to 93,000. I cut because it is tighter, better, more powerful. Padding would undo my good work, dilute the story etc. Plus it might induce madness!
I am still thinking trilogy with my angels, but having Book 1 at 57,000 words shifts about 40,000 words to Book 2, and Book 2 already has 50,000 first draft words.
If I'm following the domino theory, I can shift excess to Book 3, as long as there is a natural break. I haven't written Book 3 yet, but I know what has to go in. What if the new material doesn't fit? What if there's not enough room? What if I end up with three and half books? Do I extend and go for a quadrilogy?
Stay tuned. I'm still nutting this out.
Mulling over the decision last night threw up some interesting questions. Of course there is the over-arching story arc, and the individual arc of each constituent story (where you are splitting), but there are also commercial considerations.
If independent publishing requires critical mass, than a 6 book series would be better than a trilogy - wouldn't it? Especially if you are going to make Book 1 a freebie. Especially if the freebie is 60,000 words rather than 120,000 of the original trilogy?
And then where to split. What if Book 1 has a natural split at 57,000 words and you really really want Book 1 to be 65,000 words, like you envisage Book 2 and 3. See how nice they look on the shelves? All the spines the same thickness. What if the spines are skinny, fat, fatter, skinny? Does it matter?
Then there is pricing. Should I ask someone to pay the same amount for a skinny read as for a fat one? Is it the quality of the story the reader is buying or the number of pages? What if that great story requires 300 pages to tell, and that other great story requires 500?
The obvious solution to my 57,000 word Book 1 would be to add 8000 words but I've just spent weeks cutting the original from 103,000 words to 93,000. I cut because it is tighter, better, more powerful. Padding would undo my good work, dilute the story etc. Plus it might induce madness!
I am still thinking trilogy with my angels, but having Book 1 at 57,000 words shifts about 40,000 words to Book 2, and Book 2 already has 50,000 first draft words.
If I'm following the domino theory, I can shift excess to Book 3, as long as there is a natural break. I haven't written Book 3 yet, but I know what has to go in. What if the new material doesn't fit? What if there's not enough room? What if I end up with three and half books? Do I extend and go for a quadrilogy?
Stay tuned. I'm still nutting this out.
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